Cat On A Hot Tin Roof

On a revolving stage in Sydney, a supposedly all-American family lie about mortality and desire at Big Daddy's birthday party. Big Daddy is a plantation owner and his wife, Big Mama, speaks with a thick Australian accent. Accents are unavoidable, but director Simon Stone has also thrown Australian mannerisms and fashion into his production of Tennessee Williams' Cat On A Hot Tin Roof at Belvoir Street Theatre.

Stone has made both wise and unwise decisions in casting and stage design in his fresh take on an old play. After an actor dropped out, it was a marvellous decision to cast Marshall Napier as Big Daddy. The confrontation between Big Daddy and his son, Brick, grips its audience and won't let go as Napier gives the most energetic performance of the evening. Ewen Leslie holds his own as Brick, a man battling with his sexuality, a theme avoided by some earlier productions. The decision to move Brick in and out of a curtain of rainbow streamers realises the theme of homosexuality as Williams intended.

Unwise decisions? The revolving stage feels overused. It works wonders in the first act, but is annoying when employed as a merry-go-round during a flat third act.

The production may be uneven, but when Stone and his team get everything right, they realise the very best of Williams.

Belvoir St Theatre, to Sunday 7 April; extended season at Theatre Royal, Wednesday 10 – Sunday 21 April